2 dogs, 1 earless, need Bay Area homes after Saudi Arabia rescue

Updated 10:16 am, Thursday, September 18, 2014

Bandi, a hound mix rescued in Saudi Arabia, will be up for adoption in Marin.(Photo: Marin Humane Society)

Bandi, a hound mix rescued in Saudi Arabia, will be up for adoption in Marin.
(Photo: Marin Humane Society)

2 dogs, 1 earless, need Bay Area homes after Saudi Arabia rescue

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Two dogs rescued in Saudi Arabia and brought halfway around the world will soon be up for adoption in Marin.

The dogs, a young shepherd mix named Porter and a hound mix named Bandi, were plucked by Mill Valley native Christopher Salisbury from the streets of Ras Tanura, a city in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf.

Salisbury was teaching English and had no plans to pick up new pets while abroad. But when he met Porter the two became fast friends, according to Marin Humane Society spokeswoman Lisa Bloch.

Then Salisbury found Bandi, whose ears had been cut off, surrounded by a group of boys holding rocks. When two men put a rope around the dog's neck and began dragging him off, Salisbury intervened and took Bandi back to his home, Bloch said.

Unable to find a suitable home for either dog in Saudi Arabia, Salisbury saved up the cash necessary to transport the two back his parents' house in Mill Valley. But his parents were already caring for an aging dog and a couple of cats and had no room in their home for two new pets, so the animals were brought to the Marin Humane Society, where they will should be available for adoption in the next few days, Bloch said.

Both dogs have been neutered, vaccinated and microchipped, though Bloch cautioned that they should be adopted separately by experienced dog owners because of their rough upbringings on the streets of Ras Tanura.